


As the Sun Sets

by DarkPhoenixGoddess10



Series: Richard and Anne: One-shots [25]
Category: The White Queen (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 10:04:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4096810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkPhoenixGoddess10/pseuds/DarkPhoenixGoddess10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Richard returned from France disappointed, and he needed to talk to Anne about taking in his illegitimate son John. Anne was expecting their second child after losing the first one soon after birth. Yet, their ups and downs, life was good for then in the North, just like as the sun rises and sets.</p>
            </blockquote>





	As the Sun Sets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheAmazingCat (Kaybay2323)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaybay2323/gifts).



Anne couldn't be more pleased to see her husband returned to her same and sound, though she knew he was disappointed with the King from his letters. She was not going to talk to him about it since she knew there was nothing she could do or say to change anything. The glorious war did not occur; but from Anne's perspective, peace is better than any battle. She welcomed her husband at the gate and walked with him into the castle, hand in hand.

Behind them Francis watched and recalled his conversation with Richard.

His friend had decided to take in his illegitimate son, John Plantagenet. The mother of his bastard son, Grace, had informed him that John has grown into a troublesome lad and needed guidance from his father. Francis wondered how Anne would take it. It was only a year ago when Anne gave birth to a son who only lived for a few hours and wasn't even named.

***

Anne had his bath prepared. Though she knew the Church frowns upon man making love to his wife during her pregnancy, five months of separation was a bit too much. She would pay alms and purse to redeem this.

After much waiting, Richard came to the bed chamber. Removing his robe, he was only wearing a long shirt while Anne was still in her dress.

"Why are you so overdressed?" He asked as he unlaced her dress.

Pulling her dress down, leaving her in her white shift, he walked her to the bed. They lied in a spooning position, and Richard released her braids. Feeling him nuzzling her neck, Anne moaned softly and closed her eyes. She enjoyed his warm lips caressing her skin. When he slipped his hand under her shift to cup her breast, Anne murmured, "Be gentle..."

Unlike in the past, where she loved him caressing her breasts, her pregnancy made her breasts very sensitive to his touch.

Pulling down her shift, he leaned over and covered her breasts with soft kisses. He teased her nipples with his tongue, very gently.

Anne turned over to lie on her back. She gave him a nod for consent.

Richard pulled his white shirt over his head. He made love to her carefully.

***

After their moment of passion, Richard stripped her shift off, leaving her naked.

"Five hundred kisses," Anne murmured, with her arms over her head.

Richard kissed her on the nose, and slowly caressed her body inch by inch. As he traced her body with his lips and fingertips, he noticed the changes. When Anne was pregnant with their first child, Richard was on the road after her fourth month of pregnancy. He wasn't even there when she gave birth. This time, though, he would stay by her side until her confinement was over. That was the only thing he was satisfied from that so-called battle with France.

When his lips reached her belly, Anne placed her hand in his dark hair.

"Can you feel the kicking?"

Pressing his face against her belly, Richard felt the movement inside.

"Four more months," Anne muttered.

He remained there, feeling every moment of his child while Anne rubbed his shoulders and back.

It was a very private and intimate moment for them; a rare one too. As Duke of Gloucester and Lord of North, Richard was often on the road. There were many separations, as expected. Thus, they cherished all the time they could be together.

Losing her child from the previous pregnancy had hit Anne hard, especially after seeing the Queen and her sister Isabel had gave birth to healthy children. Surrounded by maids and midwives, Anne had a long, arduous labor without her mother or sister by her side. The child did cry but stopped breathing soon after. Alone, Anne watched the tiny coffin lowered into the ground. She wondered how Duchess Cecily had taken the blows of losing children. Her mother the Countess arrived Middleham after the incident. She hardly said anything comforting. When Anne told her it was unfair, the Countess replied that if a boy could live for a few hours or so, it's a miracle; but if he were to grow into his teens and then be taken away, leaving his father without heir - then it's unfair.

Anne became so upset with her mother that she refused to see her for days.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Richard rubbed her womanhood. Anne laughed at the pleasure.

"I remember our wedding night," Anne said softly. "You kissed my shyness away."

On her wedding night with Richard, Anne was more than just shy. Her marriage to Lancaster was never consummated. To help her overcome her discomfort, Richard coaxed her to remove her garment as he guided her to remove his. Without any clothing as barrier between them, Richard simply held Anne in his arms. Touching skin to skin, he chatted with her on small things. Slowly, Anne became more relaxed. Before taking her virginity, he covered her body with numerous kisses, which Anne counted as 500.

"Richard, the baby kicked again," Anne told him, placed his hand back on her bump.

As he felt the kicking, Richard suddenly remembered something. After the kicking stopped, he lied down next to her and took her hand. "There's something I need to tell you Anne."

"What is it?"

"My son John," Richard began. "I decided to take him in. He's a good boy and I like to oversee his upbringing."

"There's no need to," Anne replied.

"What?"

Smiled, Anne kissed his knuckles. "I have already brought him to the castle. He is our child's sibling after all."

Relieved, he muttered, "Thank you Anne."

***

_Three years later..._

Francis watched in the courtyard as the three year-old Edward of Middleham played with John Plantagenet, his half-brother. The two boys got along well and John was like a protector to Edward. Looking back at the tower, Francis found it a blessing that Edward has a big brother to play with since his lord father needed his time to be with his lady mother.

Anne was expecting a child again though she was plagued with pains and troubles. Richard stayed by her side, holding her hand.

Francis hoped that things would turn out okay.

As the sun began to set, Francis called them back into the castle.

"What game were you playing?" He asked them.

"We played knights," Edward answered. "Johnny is the big knight and I'm the little knight."

Watching the two boys happily together, Francis felt that it was blessing that they were in the North. Despite Richard's disappointment in the King's decision in making a deal with the French King, nothing was better than living in peace here in the North. While the sun was setting, he knew it would rise again the next morning.

Here, he, Richard, Anne, their son Edward, and Richard's illegitimate son John - they knew true happiness.


End file.
